Wake Up
by Darc Oblivion
Summary: Only music comforts Roxas. But he needs something else. Something to save him from losing himself. AU. Namixas.
1. Complications

Hey everyone! I'm so glad I could finally finish _It's My Life_. I've had this idea for a while now, and I've been waiting to share it. I hope you enjoy it and leave a review for me!

Pairings: Roxas/Namine, maybe more, I don't know yet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts II.

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_Wake Up_

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_

"...Roxas? Roxas! Wake up!"

A rough punch in the arm woke me up from my daze. I stumbled forward, only to nearly drop the instrument I was holding. I caught the guitar before it fell from my grip.

Oh. Right. Band practice.

"Roxas.. That was your time to scream.. we would have been perfect if you'd just..." A voice trailed off from behind the drum set. The brown spikes of hair bobbed up and down as he tapped one of the drums lightly, looking just the least bit irritated.

"Dude, if you want to be our screamer, you can't keep falling asleep on stage!" Another punch was thrown, but I dodged it this time.

"Sorry, Axel, sorry." I replied, rolling my eyes. My redheaded friend was always referring to his basement as 'on stage'.

"Roxas, what's on your mind, bro?" A hand went on my shoulder comfortingly. I looked over to find the bass guitarist, Demyx, looking me over with concerned green eyes.

I quickly swatted his hand away. "I'm fine." Yeah, right. That was BS. "Let's get back to work," I replied unemotionally.

"Yeah," I stole a quick glance at the lead guitarist, Riku, who looked quite bored.

Axel grumbled quietly although I caught onto some profanity. I ignored it. He, however, made his way back to where the microphone stand was placed. "Whatever. Let's start again."

Right on cue, Demyx strummed his shiny blue bass guitar. Riku played a few cords on his black and silver guitar. Our drummer, Sora, banged on the drums as hard as he could, and finally, I screamed into my own microphone. After my eight seconds of screaming, Axel took over and began singing.

We were playing almost perfectly.

* * *

"So, what was up with you at practice?" Sora asked. Practice was over, so we were heading home. We had left our instruments in Axel's basement simply because it was less of a hassle. I looked at my brother and sighed. 

"Look, it's nothing you should worry about." I hoped that response would be enough to shut him up.

Sora gave me a sad look, but he dropped it. Instead, he informed me of what I feared. "You know, if you slip up one more time, Axel'll probably kick you out of the band. This is the third time it's happened. I can't help but agree. Roxas, you play well, and we need a screamer like yourself. But if you space out like that, it's not going to be pretty."

I sighed. "I know, I know. It won't happen again. Alright?" I told him, looking at the ground. I could feel his eyes watching me.

"Alright... but if you want to talk, I'm here." He replied softly.

My head snapped up quickly and I glared at him. His bright blue eyes were identical to mine. "Don't concern yourself with my issues," I snarled, a little too harshly.

The brunette flinched, but glared back. "Don't talk to me like that."

I looked away, fuming. So what if he was a year older then me? That didn't change much. We looked the same. Our hair color was different, but everything else was the same. I could talk to him however I wanted to.

We didn't say anything after that, though. Our walk back home was certainly uncomfortable as the silence surrounded us. My eyes were glued to the sidewalk as to avoid Sora's gaze. He didn't seem interested in talking. Finally, after what seemed like ages, I caught sight of our familiar plain white house. Once we entered our household, Sora called loudly, "Mom! We're home!"

"God, don't be so loud," I mumbled, plugging my ears.

"That's your job, right?" Sora grinned. Back to his usual self. He was such a happy guy. He couldn't hold a grudge for even twenty minutes. _Why couldn't I be like that?_

I ignored him and trudged up the stairs, heading for my room. My mother passed me as I was going up. "Hello, Roxas. How was practice?" She asked sweetly. She reminded me so much of Sora.

"Good," I said quickly. "I'll be in my room." I reached said room as I finished my sentence and entered it. I shut the door and locked it. Once I was alone, I could really think. And my room was perfect for that. I glanced around the semi-small room and noticed my mother had cleaned it. My bed was made up, the posters on my wall were straightened, my dirty clothes were now clean and folded in a neat pile on top of my bureau. I found my stereo next to the bureau on a stand. I switched it on, and turned the volume up.

I flopped on my bed as soon as I heard the music come out of the speakers.

"Damn," I grumbled. "Damn!" I shouted as the song being played screamed in my ears. I'd almost blown my chance of staying in the band. I frowned. Then I flipped on my back and thought about it from a different angle. I knew I was decent at playing guitar, but I knew my real talent was screaming. The band, _Unlucky XIII_, needed a guy like me. They couldn't get rid of me, could they?

With a new sense of confidence, I sat up and smirked. No, they couldn't get rid of me. I was their savior. Without me screaming some lyrics and helping Riku with the guitar sounds, they were nothing.

No, no, no. I allowed myself to fall back against the bed. They were something. But I completed them. No way would they win any competition without a screamer and a second guitarist.

But I had another problem. It wasn't about _Unlucky XIII_ and it's members. It was about me. It was the reason why I'd been so spacey lately. The reason why I almost got kicked out of the band. _My_ band. My sole purpose for _living_._  
_

_The reason was everything._

Life, school, family, my peers. I felt so depressed, like I hated everything. Everything and everyone. I didn't understand. I wasn't angry. Nobody had done anything to me. I was just so lonely. I felt isolated. Not even Sora felt close anymore. We had been best friends throughout life even. Since the day I was born, really. But it felt as though he were slipping away, along with my friends and everyone else._  
_

I needed to find out why I felt this way.

I wasn't about to go ask my mother. She'd probably send me to counseling. I didn't need a stupid counselor. I just needed an answer.

So far, the only thing that didn't feel separated from me was music. Music had become my life, my soul, everything. My posters were of rockstars. I had a million CDs scattered throughout my room. I bought a music player with my own money when my birthday was just around the corner. I simply loved music.

That was why I couldn't get kicked out of my band. Without it, I didn't think I'd be able to survive. I needed to find the answer to my depression before my music sanctuary scattered apart.

* * *

So? How'd you all like it? I hope it was good. 

I wrote this chapter while continuously listening to _Hawthorne Heights's_ 'Life On Standby'.

(R.I.P Casey Calvert, former member of Hawthorne Heights.)

I was going to give more detail about the music in this story. Like when Roxas turns on his radio, perhaps he'll be able to identify the song? Or maybe in the future some lyrics will appear? What do you guys think? I chose not to because some people dislike that. But I'll hold a vote.

Also, you might be wondering why Roxas isn't the lead singer. Simply because I think it's more interesting if he's a screamer. And I know Axel being the lead singer is really quite random, but I like it.

Thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	2. Turning Point

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts II.

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_Wake Up_

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_

"Pssst!"

Nudge.

"Hey! Teacher's coming!"

I groggily sat up and rubbed my eyes, pretending I was awake the whole time. My math teacher strode past my desk, not noticing my drowsiness. He passed me the homework we had to finish for next class.

I looked over to the person who had alerted me of the teacher. It was Hayner, a slick-haired skater who I'd become friends with. "Thanks," I mumbled.

Hayner smirked. "Didn't get enough sleep last night?"

"More like I couldn't sleep." I replied, closing my eyes again and settling my head on the desk. The teacher allowed us to finish homework once the lesson was over. And it was over. So I wanted to catch up on my sleep.

I only received thirty seconds of rest until Hayner prodded my head with his pencil.

I looked at him, narrowing my blue eyes. "What now?"

"I don't get question one. Would you help me out?" He scratched his head, looking completely confused.

"No." I grumbled, turning away from him.

I could feel Hayner's glare on the back of my head. "Why not?" He demanded.

"Because." I stated plainly. "Leave me alone."

"Man, what is your problem lately? You've always helped me out and joked around during this class. But now you're so... boring. And moody." Hayner poked the sharp end of the pencil into my arm. "I don't know what's going on, but you've changed. Is it the people in that band you joined?"

I glared at him. "If something's making me.._moody_ as you stated, then I know for sure it's _not_ my band." I said coldly, shaking away Hayner's sharp pencil. It was anything but my band.

He frowned at me, intimidated by my reaction. "A-Alright. Whatever, man." He regained his cool and turned around to talk to another one of his friends.

I was strangely pissed off at Hayner. Why would he even _think_ it was my band? I wasn't moody, either. Okay. So maybe I was a bit moody. So maybe I shouldn't have been so sharp with him. So maybe I should have tried to converse with him. So maybe I should appreciate the friend that warned me of my teacher when he walked by. Damn. Why was I so angry with Hayner? All he'd done was stated how I was acting. I was such a terrible friend.

Class went by quickly and the bell rang so we headed out of the classroom. Hayner didn't even glance in my direction as we exited the classroom. Damn. I hoped I hadn't lost a friend.

"Hey! Roxas!" I heard a familiar voice shout my name in the crowded hallway. I looked for the person who called me, trying not to bump into other students who were trying to get to their classes.

I didn't have to look any longer. I spotted bright red hair in the midst of the other students.

"What do you want, Axel?" I said, pushing some younger students out of my way to get to my friend.

"Nothing, man. Demyx and I were just going to chill at my place for awhile. Want to come?" Axel asked.

"You know how I feel about cutting classes," I frowned. Why did they have to cut class all the time?

"Whatever, dork. I was just asking anyway." Axel shrugged. "I guess I shouldn't have bothered." Her huffed and crossed his arms.

I rolled my eyes, and turned away, heading to my next class. As soon as I turned away from him, though, Axel shouted at me. "We've got _Mario_!"

I raised my arm and gave him the finger before walking upstairs to my next class.

* * *

I had been sleeping peacefully before someone nudged me. 

"She's checking if we're reading. You might want to pretend you are reading now."

I mumbled something incoherent and picked up the book that had been my pillow. "Thanks," I almost whispered.

The blonde girl beside me gave me a a small smile before returning to her own book.

_Namine._ Everything about her was mysterious. Her name, where she came from, what kind of person she was. Nobody knew her. She was quiet. She always carried a sketchbook, whatever class she was in. During lunch, she seemed to vanish.

I've never seen her interact with anyone. Namine and I talk sometimes, but it's mainly about school. And we only talk because we sit next to each other. Some days we don't even look at each other. But I try to make eye contact and smile or something. She seems lonely in a way. In reality, though, she enjoys the silence she has. I can tell by the way her eyes look. Always calm. Nothing seems to upset her.

But sometimes, those eyes are isolated from everything else. And she looks so saddened sometimes. I hate it when she's like that. It makes me feel sad, too.

The English teacher walked by Namine and I, checking to see if we were reading,. I focused on the words in my random book, not really reading them. She moved on, so I placed the book down and positioned my backpack in front of me, so I was hidden. Then I rested my head on the book and fell back asleep.

It only seemed like three minutes before I heard a bell ring. I lifted my head, rubbing my eyes. I shoved the book that was my pillow in my backpack. I glanced at Namine. She was getting ready to leave as well.

"Hey, um, did she assign any homework?" I asked the blonde.

"Yes. We have to read chapters six, seven, eight, and nine and respond to them by writing a paragraph for each." Namine answered, lifting her backpack over her shoulder.

"Oh, okay. Thanks." I said, scratching my head as I followed her out of the classroom. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked.

"Sure." She responded, smiling softly at me. I smiled back, awkwardly. She walked ahead, going to wherever she goes to at lunch.

I stared after her, watching her until she disappeared in the crowd of students preparing for lunch. Sighing, I turned around and headed toward the cafeteria.

By the time I made it in the crowded cafeteria, I spotted Riku already in line. I walked ahead of the people waiting in line. Nobody seemed to notice, they were all too busy talking to their friends. I stood next to Riku and said, "Hey,"

Riku faced me and smiled. "Hey, man. What's up?"

"Nothing much, nothing much. You?" I asked. For some strange reason, Namine's face kept popping up in my head. I imagined her bright blue eyes against her pale skin and light blonde hair. I shook my head, wondering why I was randomly thinking about her.

"Nothing much either. Did you cut class with Axel and Demyx?" Riku asked, his aqua eyes on mine. I guess Axel invited Riku to come along on their little _Mario_ 'adventure' as well.

"No, I'm against cutting classes." I responded.

"Ah," Riku nodded. "Same." We made it to the front of the lunch line and purchased our food. Side by side, we walked out of the cafeteria. "Well, I'm going to go see if I can find Sora. He's probably with all those girls again." Riku snickered. "Man, how does he do that?"

I laughed. "I guess Sora has a way with the ladies." Everyone in the high school knew my brother Sora. He was incredibly popular. All the girls loved him. Even the upperclassmen. Although they weren't as infatuated with him as the girls in our grade. He was totally oblivious of this, of course.

I said my goodbye to Riku and we parted ways. I held my lunch in one hand as I dug my cellphone out of my pocket. I pressed a key and speed-dialed Axel's number. It took only two times to ring before Axel picked up.

"Hey, man! Guess what?!" Axel practically screamed in my ear.

"What?" I responded, irritated. "What is so important that you have to scream in my ear?"

"We got one! We finally got one!"

"Got one..? One what?" I asked, eyes widening.

"A gig, dumbass! We got a gig! We're going to play at The Rat Cellar two weeks from now!" Axel shouted.

I couldn't believe it. We had been trying to get a gig for our band for months now. And now we finally got one. We could finally play in front of strangers instead of playing for our three neighbors that tolerated our music in Axel's garage. We were going to be on stage! Maybe even an opening act! And The Rat Cellar was a great place for our first real gig.

"We've got thirty to forty-five minutes of playing time. We're the opening act. A few other local bands are playing after us. It's going to be great!" I could practically feel Axel jumping up and down from the excitement.

"Awesome, can't wait." I said, holding in an urge to dance around like a fool. "I'll go tell Riku and Sora."

"Alright man. We did it! We're going to be famous! We're.." I hung up on him just as he was about to go on and on about his dreams coming true.

For once, I felt incredibly pleased. Our first real gig. I would be able to show the world (or at least _some_ people) my skills as a screamer and guitarist. Maybe this was the turning point in the long depressing chapter of my life.

* * *

And that's the end of chapter two. 

Sorry it took awhile to get this up. School kind of got in the way.

Please leave a review and I'll update as soon as I possibly can!


	3. Good Mood

Well, well well.

I am back. :D I don't know how often I can update but here I am! Back from my year long absence! Not dead yet! Aren't you all excited? I am! It's also three in the morning. :)

So here we go. Let's see how rusty I am with this writing business.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

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_Wake Up_

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"Come one, come all! To The Rat Cellar! Admission's cheap, and you may have the opportunity to have _my_ autograph!" Axel screamed, waving around a flier that read 'The Rat Cellar' and had a list of all its performers, including _Unlucky XIII_.

"What he said!" Demyx cried, just as enthusiastically as Axel. Sora frantically danced around both Demyx and Axel, while handing out fliers to everyone passing by. Girls from our school walked by and giggled at my brother, accepting the fliers and walking away with a flirty swagger.

Riku and I were quieter than the rest of our band members, we simply smiled as we handed the fliers out and muttered a "Come see us!" randomly.

It was after school, and we decided to go downtown and hand out advertisements to our concert. Well, not really _our _concert, but it sure felt like it, with the way Axel was acting. The great thing was that The Rat Cellar was paying us to hand these papers out. Twenty a piece for two hours!

"Man, this is so great." Riku said, waving at a cute girl who smiled at him. "I'm already impressing some girls."

I grinned. "You sound like Axel," I had noticed too, however. Girls were interested in me as well, throwing me smiles and winking, but I wasn't particularly interested in them. Not that I didn't think they were attractive, it just seemed like they wanted me because of what I did, not because of who I was.

Nonetheless, my mood had skyrocketed from feeling like crap, to feeling like I was on Cloud Nine. School had breezed by earlier and I made a plan to chill with Hayner, who reluctantly but happily accepted an apology from the other day's rudeness. I had also talked to Namine and we conversed about strange music and coffee shops for half of lunch. I was glad I had caught her before she disappeared. And to top it all off, I had no homework and it was Friday.

What a great day.

The thoughts from my previous depressing mood still lingered in my head, but I wasn't about to let them burst my bubble of happiness. I found that if I focused on the good parts of the day, I wouldn't think about the horrible parts of my life. Easy as pie, right?

"We are _Unlucky XIII_! Come check us out at The Rat Cellar in just two weeks! You won't regret it!" Axel screamed as loud as he could, grinning like a fool. He turned to me and gave me a million dollar smile. "Even Roxas is in a great mood." He swiveled his head back and yelled, "It makes sad kids happy! Who doesn't want that?!"

"Hey!" I attempted to punch him, but he slid away from my reach and cackled. "Now you're just going to scare people away," I told him, but he ignored me and continued with his excited hollering.

Sora sneaked up from behind and slapped me playfully on the back. "Hey, Roxas. Glad to see you smiling." He grinned.

I grinned back. It seemed like everything was falling back into its right place. I then retorted, "How come everyone thinks I'm sad?!" I playfully wrestled with Sora for a bit and everything was peaceful for awhile.

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Two weeks certainly flies by when you're busy as hell.

We had spent every free minute practicing until our fingers and throats hurt. The only thing on my mind was the concert. I think it was the only thing on everyone's mind.

I screamed my lyrics perfectly, even though my throat was sore, and Riku stepped in front of the whole band to play a mad minute and a half guitar solo. The song ended after Sora banged on the last drum and Demyx hit the last note. and everyone sighed at the same time.

"Trippy," Riku muttered, chuckling.

"We are...perfect." Axel smiled at all of us. "I'm proud, boys."

"So, we're taking tomorrow off, right? My fingers are killing me!" Demyx said, examining each individual finger.

"Yeah, I think we should. What do you think, Roxas? Axel? Riku?" Sora asked, resting his head on his drum set.

"Agreed," Riku said, beginning to put his shiny guitar away.

"I second that," I said, gulping down a whole water bottle.

"Alright then," Axel cleared his throat. "Tomorrow is the day before the concert. But, since we've been practicing for a week and a half nonstop, we will take the day off." Axel wiped sweat off his forehead and drank from his water bottle. "I'm going to sleep now, so I'll talk to you all tomorrow."

Axel trudged into his house and we parted ways to head to our respective homes. Sora and I walked slowly, but happily.

"This week has been great so far, huh? Even though I'm exhausted." Sora grinned at me.

I smiled. "Definitely. Probably the best week I've had in a very long time." I told him.

"I'm really happy, Roxas. I hope everything continues to be well for you." Sora said, his blue eyes examining my face, waiting for a reaction.

I simply put my arm over his shoulder in a brotherly manner and smiled again. "Thanks, Sora."

Our walk home was pleasant.

--------------------

"Hey, Roxas."

I shivered. It startled me. Where was I? The voice was so familiar, soft, gentle, sweet. The girl was behind me, but I couldn't turn around. I knew I was dreaming, but this dream was scaring me, and not like a nightmare would.

"So you're playing tomorrow, huh?"

"Uhh...yeah, I am. You...uh, you coming?" I was nervous and I was sweating. The girl's voice sent shivers of excitement down my spine and I wanted to turn around. But it was a dream and I was not in control of my body for the most part.

"Yeah. I am, and you're going to be amazing." I gulped. I was shaking, and I had no idea why. Well, I did. I wanted this girl. Not sexually, well maybe, but I really wanted to know who she was because she made me feel emotionally wonderful. It was as though all my sadness just vanished. And I liked it.

But I was also afraid. Because I knew who the girl was, but I couldn't place a name on her or picture her face. I just knew I wanted her so badly and the fact that I knew her terrified me.

"Uhh, thanks, that means a lot." Even in my dream, it was awkward. I wanted to slap myself because of how dumb I sounded.

"Roxas? Can I ask you something?" Once again, shivers ran through my whole body at the sound of my name and I willed myself to turn around, but I simply could not. Because I was trying so hard, I forgot to respond.

"Roxas?" Her voice echoed in my head and my mind was at peace.

I woke with a quiet shout, jolting upright in one instant. "...I didn't see her face," I groaned and stood up. The clock read four twenty. I walked to the bathroom and washed the sweat off my face.

I knew who she was but I didn't at the same time. I stared at my reflection. My hair was dripping slowly, I was sloppy when I washed my face and my eyes were the brightest blue I had ever seen. I turned away and sighed and went back to bed. I would find out sooner or later, I figured. But I needed sleep. The gig was in two days. I would worry about my girl later.

* * *

So now it's four fifty in the morning. So if there are any errors my apologies. I also haven't done this in a year. But anyway! Review away and thanks for reading! It was the reviews that motivated me to update!


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